Photos

Alright - everyone should have received their Kickstarter packages by now, with the following exceptions:

1. You’re a friend, and you said “just give it to me in person.” At this point, we’ve probably seen each other a couple times, and I forgot to hand it to you. However, since we are friends, we will likely have the opportunity to meet again soon, so I’m not worried. I’m going to start mailing some of these out, but there is a chance I’ll see you in person and hand deliver your package before then.

2. International backers. I’ve shipped all your rewards, but international delays are not improbable. Give it a week or two, and then drop me a note if you have not received yours!

3. Patron level backers! I’ve only gotten one of the eight packages out, and I’m sorry! I’m working hard to produce your original sculptures(I’m nearly finished with another three). My timing was a bit off, and I did not complete all of these sculptures before my schedule got insane again. But - I assure you that my sculpting is only getting better over time, and I hope to finish them all by the end of the year. I am sorry for the delay!

4. You did not provide me with your shipping address. Please remedy this.

New Things In My Life:

I have a show coming up, and not only is it my first solo show, but I get to do it in my absolute favourite gallery(disclaimer: I also work with them) in one of my absolute favourite towns(disclaimer: I’m really into breakfast burritos).

Anyway…*ahem*…I have a show coming up at Stranger Factory in Albuquerque. It’s called A Nervous Harbour, and it’s all about twitchy little aquatic critters. I’ve been working my tiny little fingers off sculpting and painting for the show, and I cannot wait to show you all what I’ve been up to.

Have I mentioned I love Stranger Factory? It’s a wonderful little gallery, and if you’re into the same kind of things I am, it’s a total candy store. It also has literal candy. I hope some of you can make it out to the opening on September 6th, but if not, you can sign up on the gallery's mailing list to receive a preview of my work and purchase it when it goes up.
Here’s the relevant chunk from the press release…

This exhibit is a collection of handmade, barnacle-encrusted beasties seeking sanctuary from rough seas and aquatic predators. Each sculpture and painting brings to life another black-eyed and bewildered little nugget of improbable evolution, washed up on beaches and harbours, then stuffed, mounted and classified for your collecting pleasure. If cryptozoology had a marine biology exhibit, this would be it!

I owe you a shipping update, don't I? Here you go! I'm still working in it!

If you pledged at the $15 or $20 level, your packages have been shipped. Unless you’re a friend of mine who’s said “Don’t ship it, I’ll get it next time we see each other” in which case your package has not been shipped and I owe you a drink approximately equivalent to the cost of shipping.

If you pledged at the $25 or $30 levels, I still have 46 packages left to ship, which means that your package has an approximately 62% chance of already having shipped, but those odds are getting better every day.

If you pledged at the $100 level and live in the United States, your packages have been shipped. If you do not, I’m sorry, but they’ll be going out really soon(this week, probably).

If you pledged at the $150 level, none of your packages have shipped, and I will likely miss that June deadline I promised, but I can assure you that my sculpting is getting better over time, and these packages are only getting cooler the longer you wait.

Thank you for your patience, truly. This Kickstarter was more successful than anticipated, and I'm paying the price in paper cuts and an absurd amount of bubble wrap.

Here is an image of some of the progress I'm making on the original patron sculptures...

How is life in my shipping center(my living room), you ask? Well, it’s full of boxes.
My household is helping. My husband is more useful than my cat. The cat is not useful.

This is what Date Night with my husband looks like now.

Shipping Updates

As of a week or so ago, I hit the 100 packages shipped mark! Which is awesome! Most are domestic packages, but I’ve also started on shipping intl packages this week as well. If you are wondering when your package will arrive, I’m going approximately in order of pledge received for your pledge level...so the earlier you pledged, the more likely you are to have received it already. There is an exception...I kept on delaying on shipping packages to people whose names I recognized so I could throw in little treats...but honestly, shipping is overwhelming, so I’m going to get to shipping all those out now! You might get a sharpie doodle on your box, though?

120 of 248 packages shipped. That's ALMOST HALF OF THEM!

Other News

I have an art show opening in May, for those of you who might want to buy some of my sculptures. It’s sort of a spin-off of the Center for Otherworld Science, and a collaboration with my friend Leslie Levings(Beastlies) called the “Corner Museum of Dubious Beasts”. You can think of it as the Center for Otherworld Science lending some of its collection to the Corner Museum(the art show is literally in a corner of a store). If you’re in the Los Angeles area, you should come check it out and say hi at the opening!

“Inspired by early cabinets of curiosities and the mustiest corners of old museums, critter curators and sculptors Leslie Levings and Shing Yin Khor unveil a collection of strange and wonderful beady eyed things in The Corner Museum of Dubious Beasts.”

The large order of mugs are in! That’s a lot of boxes, and I have resigned myself to my living room being inventory management for the next couple months.

Shipping continues apace, if a bit more like a snail’s pace, but I’ve scheduled several Big Shipping Weekends in March and April, where the majority of packages will go out. Still, it is progress! If you pledged in the $15, $20, $25 and $30 levels, I am working through shipping these levels! Remember, the anticipated delivery date is still April 2013, and I’m really kind of swamped, so please try to avoid asking me when you’ll get your packages! The answer is “By the end of April 2013, and maybe earlier.” You are welcome to bug me in May.

For those who are interested in Kickstarter statistics and pie charts, I also wrote Part 1 of my Kickstarter postmortem, where I took a look at how many pledges came from friends, as well as at my referrer data. If you’re into that kind of thing, it can be found at my website, Sawdust Bear Makes Things!

I’ve also been getting some pictures in from mug recipients and it really the most wonderful thing to see them being used! Some have been reuniting with some of my sculptures, including some of my really early work! :)